Mystery car problem (2001 3200GTA)

Hello all,

I am looking for some help on things I can check regarding my engine not starting/cutting out.

For a bit of background my car was parked up in my garage for 3 1/2 years while I was working away, then sent to Marios for recommisioning. A month after I picked it up I put it in to storage for 6 months while I had building work done on my garage, so it hasn't been used much lately. Building work is now complete and after picking it up I drove it 30 miles to my parents house with no issues.
Then when I went to leave their house the car would not start. The engine turned over fine and at the point it would normally catch and fire up it just died. I thought it may have been a weak battery from the car hardly being used for 4 years even though it was always on a CTEK. It jump started fine with my NOCO, so I went to halfords and got a new battery. After fitting it the car fired up first time, so I thought it was problem solved and went to drive home. After half mile the engine just cut out. It would turn over but not fire up again, and was the same on my jump starter. After getting recovered home I tried the spare black key and the car started ok, and then tried the original black key again and it started ok. My problem is now I've got no confidence to take it out for a test run! I've joined the RAC so if it does break down I can get it recovered to Marios, but wanted to enjoy the car before summer ends.
The EML light comes on due to RCY ASR fault that Marios suspects is due to rusty phonic rings (P700 fault code, no other codes stored), but apart from that it was driving very well.

I was wondering if it was immobiliser related, but I drove it 30 miles that morning with the same key. Is it worth fitting new key fob batteries, or is that only for the alarm and the little chip thing for the immobilser?

Any ideas on what I can easily check/change?


Thanks for your help,

John

Not 100% sure on the 3200 but typically the immobiliser only has an impact on start, not when driving.

This sounds like a TDC sensor, which are known to fail when hot then cool down and it's fine.

C

Crank sensor would cause it to cut out when running, cam sensor not so I don't think but either one would cause a non start. Check the wiring for them both it's pretty accessible.

Thanks for the replies . Do you mean to just check the plugs are on properly on parts 2 and 3 on this drawing?

John

I had similar problem with mine, and it was a short in the crankshaft sensor cable. (ref 585069401)
The symptoms :

• sometimes the car would not start
• sometimes, the engine died, without reason, when driving (!)
• no code/cel

It's cheap and quite easy to replace.



If it was the immob, you'd have a orange "code" light on (or a padlock on OBD2 cars)

Thanks Gemini, thats exactly the same sympoms as I am seeing. For £20 I'll get one ordered up.
In your photo there seems to be a lot more space to work than I've got! Did you remove bits to get access to it?

J

I did a quick "how to" on maseratitude (in frnch, but you can translate with google)
http://www.maseratitude.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=7076

You "only" need to remove the 3 screws holding the oil pipe and the air intake hose, then you can replace the sensor.

Thanks Gemini, that a great write up. Just need to wait for the postman to bring my sensor now. This forum is a great help with these temperamental beauties.

J

The crank sensor is a good starting point.

I would get the fuel pumps checked also.

John
If your car starts it’s not the crank sensor , when the crank sensor is faulty they don’t start at all .

i would agree the crank sensor and possible the CAM sensor might be a good bet. The Cranks sensor on my car failed at one point and it was really intermittent, it would run and then stop, some times start some times not, not sure what the failure mechanism is, but they are inexpensive and definetely worth a try. I agree if its completely goosed the car wont run at all.

Thanks for your advice Mario's and Davy. The car does start and run now, but I haven't run it long enough to get up to temperature to see if that's when it cuts out.
Have you any other ideas Mario's that are easy to check at home?

The fact that the car cuts out, naroows it dwon quite a bit. The ignition modules are prone to misfiring but not shutting the engine down. i would also suggest that fuel pumps while there have been some issues generally dont shut the engine down, usually its loss of pressure because one of the 2 pumps is on the blink or leaking. Immobiliser issues generally occur at start up and you get a little padlock light on the dash when these occur so you don't confuse these problems with other things. Equally the knock sensors while a common fault dont stop the car running.
can you reqad the error codes? Even though you have a suspension and brake issue any new errors will be listed separately and so if you can read the eror codes this might tell you whats causing the problem.
I would not rule out random wiring faults and dodgy relays and so on, as there are many many reports of wiring issues. perhaps around the ECU? or even a grounding issue somewhere.
The car is notorious for problems with the throttle body and pedal sensor, fly by wire system, but these rarely cause a shut down of the engine, and usually result in an error light and a limp home mode. Clearly if either of these elements is badly faulty this can stop the car from starting. there are some ETM and pedal sensor faults that might shut the engine down but I have not heard of these occuring and if they were bad enjough to shut the engine down they would also tend to cause mayhem all the time and not just occasionally.
I also note your engine looks ludicrously clean. you have not jet washed it or similar recently? Water in the wiring? some one has cleaned this quite vigorously at some time and this may even be the root of your issue, and would lead me back to the crank and CAM sensors.
Just some random thoughts, but i think you are looking in the right place.

Thats Gemini's engine bay in the photo up there!
No other error codes were stored, but i'm going to run it up to temperature later to see what happens when its hot.

While checking the plugs all looked ok for the sensors I did notice a rubber tube under the throttle body thats not connected at one end... It comes from the top of a small block to the left of the throttle body and then just ends after 8" or so... is this normal?

Thanks for all the suggestions so far,
J

John3200 said:

While checking the plugs all looked ok for the sensors I did notice a rubber tube under the throttle body thats not connected at one end... It comes from the top of a small block to the left of the throttle body and then just ends after 8" or so... is this normal?

Thanks for all the suggestions so far,
J

Click to expand...

Hi , that's normal, that's the boost controller and just vents to air.

When it cuts out does it stop immediately or splutter to death?

Oneball said:

When it cuts out does it stop immediately or splutter to death?

Click to expand...

No spluttering, just stopped. And when I tried to start it it turns over fine but at the point it should fire and catch there is nothing.

John3200 said:

No spluttering, just stopped. And when I tried to start it it turns over fine but at the point it should fire and catch there is nothing.

Click to expand...

I'm still going to put money on crank sensor. Hope you get it sorted soon.

I've just been out in to my garage and started the car 1st time. Ran it for 30mins to get up to temperature with no issues. Turned it off and waited a couple of minutes, then tried to restart it a few times and it wouldn't fire.
Left it 20 mins or so and it started fine again. Waited for it to get up to 90 degrees on temp gauge again, turned it off and it wouldn't start again.
So appears to mainly be a hot start issue, but did die while being driven last time I tried to use it.
I did a search on the threads on here, and a quick skim read of karatemaseratis thread pointed to the TDC sensor. Hopefully if I replace that and the hot starting issue disappears then it's solved....

Thanks for all your contributions, or if you think my hot start issue is caused by something else.

J